As bloggers, no matter which stage of our journey one is at, we are constantly looking for different ways to increase blog traffic.

In this article, I’ve combined 36 different ideas that will help get more traffic to your blog.

But that doesn’t mean you should go for all of them at once.

In fact, DON’T!

Don’t stretch yourself too thin. Instead, focus on only a few at a time and then move on to the next.

Before we get started though, there is one thing I want to share with you.

1. There are only three types of traffic:

• The traffic you control (your email list)
• The traffic you can influence (social media and search engine)
• The traffic you can buy (ads)

All three require totally different types of effort, but all can only succeed when there is a real value offered in your content.

Now that that’s clear, let’s get to the juicy stuff.

NOTE: No time to read? Grab it as a PDF from my library:

36 Ways To Increase Blog Traffic

#1. Write More Content

Content is the King and the Queen 👑

It’s the heartbeat of your online biz!

No content = No traffic.

Basically, if you have 10 articles, don’t expect thousands of visitors each day (unless you are willing to spend some dolla’ bills).

Each new article you write is sorta like buying a lottery ticket. The more you have – the higher are your chances to win that jackpot!

So, write more content! And you WILL get more traffic than if you didn’t.

#2. Publish Better Articles

Following advice #1 you should be golden just posting more, right?

Nope.

The content has to be good, even great, and not just OK.

So make sure the new article you write is better than anything you posted before!

A few simple tips to make your content more readable, engaging, and bring-me-back-for-more type:

• Be excited about what you write and want to share!
• Use proper H2 headings that stand out and are easily skimmable.
• Use bold, italic and bullet points to emphasize important things.
• Add images to break up the text and avoid a reader’s headaches. (We are not writing a research paper here.)
• Optimize your images (link to a free website I use) so they don’t take forever to load and scare off your readers.
• Write in short paragraphs and sentences that are easy to read and flow quickly.
• Add videos.

Simply following these tips will get your readers to stay on your website longer, and actually engage.

After all, thousands of visitors that bounce off your site in the first few seconds are not nearly as awesome as a few hundred that stay for a long time.

#3. Focus on Value

People visit your site because they believe there’s something in it for them.

So to get more blog traffic, you simply gotta deliver more value.

That can be done through helpful and informative articles, tutorials and tips.

Fun and light posts bring value too, as making people laugh and feel good about themselves is totally awesome!

So, before writing your next post, ask yourself:

• Why would someone want to read and share this? What value am I offering here?

#4. Write Different Types of Content

Simply put, unless your blog is called “Tips, Other Tips, and Some More Tips”, don’t write 50 “10 Tips to…” articles in a row.

It gets boring and outdated quickly.

Instead, mix it up and reach a wider audience that is interested in different things!

• 10 Tips for…
• How to…
• What/ Why is…
• 10 Best/ Top/ New…
• Should you…
• Where to…
• etc.

Also, don’t forget to write content that’s different lengths.

My usual content is about 1,500-3,000 words, and I have some pillar content that’s 5,000+ words like this one.

The longer content will help you rank on Google faster, and both get shared to different social media for more blog traffic.

#5. Go On a Writing Spree

Want to give a boost to your traffic and not wait too long?

Block out a few hours during a few consecutive days and just write like there’s no tomorrow!

Here are a few tips on how to get this done:

• Block out exactly when, where and for how many hours you’ll be writing each day.
• Set measurable goals that you can check off.
• Brainstorm and have a list of blog post topics you want done in this time period.
• Set a timer that defines how long each article will take.

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”

Parkinson’s law.

It’s kind of like a jump in time!!

So, if you post one article per week, it will take you about a month to publish 4 articles. And when you go on a writing spree and post 4 articles in a row, it’s as if your blog jumped one month into the future 😉

#6. Repurpose Your Content

More blog traffic can come not only from new articles but also from other types of content.

You could try repurposing some of your best content into a YouTube video or a podcast episode.

Even if you don’t actively try to grow these channels, chances are people will still find your awesome content. And who knows, you might love the process so much you’ll turn it into your #1 traffic source!

#7. Refresh Old Content

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you probably have a bunch of old articles you posted a few months or years back.

And if you are anything like me, after the article is published and promoted you just kind of never open it again.

Well, I recently learned that if your content doesn’t rank on Google, or isn’t being shared like crazy, there is no harm in changing it up a bit.

Sometimes that means simply updating it with new pictures, making it easier to read, creating new promo material or improving SEO.

Other times, adding more content to make it more rich and valuable.

You did spend that time crafting it at the beginning, don’t let your work go to waste. A few tweaks might make a big difference in your traffic.

#8. Crosslink Content

This one has two benefits:

• Visitors stay on your website longer by browsing more pages.
• Search engines understand better what your content is about.

And all it takes is adding relevant links to your other content!

Example:

There are many cool tools out there, and if you want, check out my favorite resources for bloggers that I use in my biz.

#9. Be The Expert In Your Field

This one is great when you have properly defined your niche, and are ready to rock it.

Writing amazing content on the same topic consistently will lead to recognition for constant browsers.

The goal is to rank on Search Engines and be present on social media to the point when people start recognizing your blog name!

For example, whenever I google something about SEO, I see the name Neil Patel come up.

And guess what? When I see his name appear, because I recognize it, I’ll click on his article no matter what position he shows up at.

Of course, there are many other fantastic blogs and people that cover this topic. But for me, he is THE expert in the field.

And that happened after I read his super-duper amazing article “SEO Made Simple”.

Which you should totally check out to learn about more about SEO, or to simply see what an amazing piece of content looks like.

#10. Add Social Sharing Buttons

Getting people to share your content is not always as easy as it sounds…

But it all starts with letting them have an option to share.

You can use any plugin for it, as long as it’s not in the way of your blog post.

I use a mix of Elementor and Social Warfare.

Allow people to share your awesomeness!

#11. Ask People To Share

I believe that in life, we need to speak our desires out loud.

The same goes for your content!

Ask people to share your article if they thought it was awesome, like this:

Like this article? Save it to your “Blogging Tips” Pinterest Board!

See what I did there 😉

#12. Learn SEO

SEO – search engine optimization, will quickly become your best friend!

At first, it may seem scary or confusing. But honestly, it’s A-MA-ZING!

How would you like free traffic every day and growing?

Listen up, mastering SEO takes time, there are always some nuances and algorithm changes.

But, one thing will always stay the same – the intention.

Google wants to serve people with the best, most relevant and useful content for them. And if you’ve got it – you are halfway there!

• Then, of course, you’ll also need to create a Google Search Console account.
• Submit a sitemap. You can use Yoast free plugin to help you out with that and other things 🙂
• Do a bit of keyword research.
• And then use that keyword + synonyms in your title, description, Alt tags of your images and throughout the content. Just don’t overdo it, that’s called “keyword stuffing” and it will hurt more than help.

And you are good to go!

Google traffic takes quite some time to pick up, so don’t expect results right on the same day. But it will just accumulate over time.

So set it up ASAP and focus on your awesome content!

Psst… You can always read that article by Neil Patel I mentioned in way #9 if you want to learn more.

Just look at my other blog’s growth over the last 16 months. Tots worth it, right?

#13. Pinterest Mania

Pinterest is my second favorite after SEO simply because it’s so easy and fun to use. And the results are amazing too!

I think almost every niche blog should be on Pinterest using this visual search engine for traffic growth.

I won’t say much here because I’ve talked about it quite a lot already, you can read more in my other articles:

• How I went from 0 – 47,386 pageviews in 16 months of blogging.
• 10 Pinterest mistakes bloggers make.
• Pinterest Board Names, Ideas, and Organization for Bloggers.

#14. YouTube It

YouTube is a fantastic video search engine and has a lot less competition than blogs do.

Do you want to see how many articles were published today? You can check a live counter here.

It’s simple, really. Most people feel more uncomfortable speaking in front of the camera, than publishing a blog post.

So why not do both and get more reach and traffic?

If it’s not your cup of tea though, don’t worry, so many bloggers make it without constantly pushing videos on YouTube.

#15. Podcast All The Way

If you always find something to say, maybe podcasting will work for you as an additional source of traffic to your blog.

You could take your article and read it out loud while recording your voice. It should be a little less uncomfortable than video.

Or, you could go the other way around. Record your voice and then transcribe it and have 2 amazing pieces of content.

You can then upload your recording to various podcasting platforms, and embed it on your blog as well.

#16. Instagram Influence

If your blog is all about pretty photography, why not share it on IG as well?

Even if it isn’t, you can always make pretty quotes pictures, create Insta Stories or post videos.

A lot of people enjoy Instagram, and you might get a few clicks to your blog from the link in BIO.

If you want to take IG seriously, your first goal should be getting 10k subscribers so you get the “Swipe Up” feature unlocked.

That’s when you can start sending some nice traffic from your stories to your blog every day.

Social media will help you get traffic actively, and SEO, YouTube, and Pinterest more passively.

Once you post stuff on these platforms, they can bring you traffic for months and even years after. On social media, you snooze you lose.

#17. Twitter

If you are ready to post a lot every day, Twitter might help you get more clicks to your website.

All of the posts’ influence disappears very quickly, but with good followers and depending on your niche, it could be good for you.

Choose social media where your avatar, your perfect reader, hangs out. That’s when you know it’s worth spending time and effort on.

#18. Analyze and Improve

Once you finally get some traffic, it’s important not to forget what truly matters – engagement and retention.

So to get more traffic to your other pages, you should focus on the traffic that’s already on your platform.

For that, I suggest going straight to Google Analytics and digging into some important numbers, like the bounce rate.

But don’t just look at the average bounce rate as it doesn’t tell you how to improve, dig deeper.

Go to Behaviour -> Site Content -> All Pages, and you’ll see your top pages and their stats for the month.

For example, the “/36-best-artist…” is an article where I recommend the best sketchbooks to buy. So, I DO want people to bounce off and go buy those sketchbooks.

So, the 90.33% bounce rate is a good thing.

But the “/100-character-design-sheets” is an article that has a 91.03% bounce rate, but it’s an article where I don’t recommend anything.

So, I should go back and focus on adding relevant cross-links and better organizing the content so visitors stay longer and check out other pages too!

• For more info on how to set up Google Analytics and What to analyze see the linked article.

#19. A/B Test Everything

Test, test, test!

How do you know what title works best? Or what image are people most likely to share?

You don’t!

The only way to really know is to test your options.

Different tests can be done with plugins and tools.

For example, if I want people to open my email, but not sure what to name it for a better open rate, I can use Convertkit‘s A/B testing feature like so:

Then ConvertKit will randomly take a percentage of your subscribers and categorize them into groups A and B. (and they will receive corresponding headlines).

After 4 hours, whichever group has the highest open rate – that’s the version that will be sent out to the rest of your subscribers!

Pretty awesome, right?

#20. Follow a Schedule

Imagine your favorite TV show aired whenever they wanted and didn’t have a set timing. On Monday they’ll air at 7 a.m. and on Tuesday 5 straight episodes from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.

And they never tell you when they’ll air so you have to just guess…

Would it still be your favorite?

Of course not!! You would miss out on the whole plot!!

You should think about publishing your articles/videos/podcasts in the same way.

Tell your subscribers how often and on which day you will publish your content, so they know when to come back for more.

More than that, also set a schedule in your calendar when you will spend some time creating new promotional material for your articles. Whether it’s pins for Pinterest or images/posts for other social media – revisit your old posts and put a spotlight on them once again for additional traffic.

#21. Help Readers Come Back For More

Did you know that most of the people who visit your blog once will never EVER find it again?!

That’s pretty sad! 🙁

So help them remember you and come back for more awesome content every time 🙂

You can do it by inviting visitors to like a social media page you are most active on and then posting blog updates on it.

Or, my favorite way – email marketing.

Give them an incentive to sign up for your email list so you can keep sending them your blog post updates.

Trust me, if I could go back in time and start my blog from the ground up, the first thing I would do is create a freebie and start collecting emails. It’s the gold of your blogging biz!

If you are not sure why you need to collect emails, I have a list of my 5 top reasons.

And if your mind goes blank when you read the words “freebie” or “incentive” then you absolutely must read this post on 6 strategies for getting email subscribers.

Even if you don’t think you need to or don’t understand why you do, you’ll thank yourself later for building an email list asap! 🙂

#22. Email List Newsletter

Now that you’re hopefully convinced that you need an email list – what’s next?

If it just sits there without any purpose, then people who subscribed will forget about you.

And a lot of new bloggers are so worried about, “well, what do I write to them??”

The easiest thing to do is to send out a friendly email update every time you post a new article.

Can you imagine getting clicks and readers right away after posting a new article? It’s so awesome!!

Pretend like you are talking to your best friend, be goofy, be honest, be sarcastic, whatever floats your boat – just be yourself.

They’ll LOVE you for it!

(Pssst… if they don’t love it and unsubscribe – their loss, you are totally awesome! And that simply means they are not your perfect person. You’ll find many more!)

#23. “Monthly’s”

I call it “Monthly’s” because it’s easy to remember…

Every month, create a compilation of all the content from this period together and share it with your email subscribers and post it on social media.

People are BUSY! Even if we are interested in what you wrote and can’t wait to read it, we might not have the time at the moment and then forget.

So, sending out or posting these monthly reminders will get you more clicks guaranteed!

Every time I send out monthly’s to my other blog’s email list, I get on average 1.5% of subscribers to read the content they missed.

It’s free traffic that’s just sitting there and waiting for you guys 🙂

#24. Automated Email Topics

So the articles we wrote in the past get buried under new ones and are hard to discover.

I already said that we should create new promo material for them to keep it toasty, but we can take things one step further…

I like setting up automated email sequences with Convertkit‘s automation tools and then updating them once every few months.

For example, if you write different recipes, you could sum them up as compilations like this:

• 200 Dinner Recipes You Need To Try! (and links to 10 of your articles that talk about 20 dinner recipes each)
• Vegan all the way… (and links to all of your articles focused on vegan food)
• No time to cook? No problem! (links to all of your slowcooker-related articles)

Get the point?

And then just set them up to go out once per week/ month to everyone who subscribes to your list!

That doesn’t take a lot of effort but helps your readers discover more of your awesome content and build that trust.

#25. Build a Community

Another way to get more traffic and new users to your website is to build a community of your people.

I think one of the best ways to do it is to create a Facebook page (link to my FB page for bloggers, it’s private, but you can join!) and invite everybody in.

I’m pretty bad at that as I mostly spend time on the Facebook page dedicated to my students.

But the general rule applies, give your people a way to talk to like-minded folks, to communicate with you and to share their thoughts.

They’ll love you for it and become your most dedicated fans.

I LOVE my students at SAB FB group. They are like family to me and it’s so fun learning and having fun together.

That should be the point of everything you do – bring value. And then the word will spread and your dedicated readers will talk about you to their friends.

That kind of referral is the most powerful one!

#26. Engage With Your Readers

Yes, yes, I talk a lot about getting more traffic from returning visitors – but aren’t they the best kind?

Just think about it for a moment…

WHY do you want more traffic?

Probably to have a bigger impact, reach a wider audience, help more people, make more money, etc., right?

Well, your returning readers are more likely to become your returning and most loyal customers! And they’ll share your content and talk about you too!

So give them the value and the recognition they deserve by responding to their comments, emails, and posts.

A lot of bloggers skip over this point, but it’s just so important to give back and build relationships.

The people you pay attention to will go back and read all of your posts, and that means more traffic, engagement, and trust.

#27. Guest Blogging

The point is to reach out to bloggers that run blogs in the same or similar niches to yours and write free content for them.

Yes, it’s super time-consuming, and you can’t just deliver something half-assed and ruin your name and relationship with that blogger.

Guest blogging is awesome for a couple of reasons:

• you get a link back to your blog or your relevant blog post.
• you let google know what your blog is about (that’s why getting a backlink from a relevant niche is so important!)
• you have a chance to be discovered by readers of that blog, that would’ve otherwise never found you.
• you get to build relationships with bloggers from all over the world that get what you’re writing about.

I’ve never done guest blogging myself, but I do get at least 1-2 emails each month from other bloggers trying to write for my blog.

At first, I was very excited to receive these emails and collaborate with others. But then, I discovered the sad truth of what happens most of the time. People who email:

• Send out one generic email to all, saying “Hello, blogger. I love your blog. Can I guest post?”. I mean c’mon, at least write out the name of my blog!!
• Aren’t familiar with my content and ask to write articles completely unrelated to anything I write about.
• Half-ass their work and send articles with mistakes in every sentence, most of which don’t make any sense at all.
• Hope I’ll post a 300-word article.

So guys, if you don’t have the time to get this done right, I ask you from the name of all bloggers not to even get started with this.

Guest blogging can get you extra traffic, sure, but it’s so much more than that!

If you have the time and want to give it a shot:

• Read articles that are published on that blog (might seem obvious, but many don’t even do that)
• Engage with the author prior to asking for a guest blogging opportunity (comment on articles, send an email about what content you enjoyed, suggestions, feedback, ideas, etc.)
• Write a personalized (!!!) email, be respectful, engaging and professional.
• Introduce your blog shortly, and maybe suggest how you could help them out as well.
• Prepare a list of topics you could write about that weren’t previously covered on their blog and you think it will be a great fit.
• Let them know that there aren’t any hard feelings if they don’t accept guest posts and that you will continue enjoying their content either way!

In short, don’t expect to get-get-get without giving anything in return, which might simply be the respect they deserve.

#28. Invite Guests

You could always invite some guest bloggers on your blog in exchange for a link from them. Or better yet, find experts in your field and interview them!

People love being interviewed, as it reminds them of how special and awesome they are, + who doesn’t love talking about themselves?

Your readers will love it and get awesome takeaways, and you’ll potentially get a link or a social media exposure to your blog from the person you interview.

Here are a few pointers:

• Reach out to an expert in your field by email.
• Introduce yourself and what you do, be respectful and honest.
• Tell them why you think your readers will love them.
• Prepare a set of questions ahead.
• Make sure the questions showcase them in the best possible light, while also bringing value to your readers.
• Once the interview is published, send them an email with a link and ask for a share if they enjoyed it 🙂

This is a great way to get more exposure and a new boost of short-term traffic to your blog.

#29. Collaborate With Others

Collaborating with other bloggers is often thought of as guest blogging, and collaborating with artists is seen as interviews.

However, we don’t have to stop at that!

Use all of your creative imagination and come up with new and exciting ways to work with others in your field, bring value to your audiences and have fun!

For example, instead of doing an interview, you could ask for a tutorial, a day in the life as a___, or ask a lot of people one question and combine it into a single post!

You could even do a 2-Part series of articles on a topic, and write one part while another blogger writes the next and you link to each-others’ content for the traffic and benefit of both.

The sky is the limit in collaboration, as long as you know it will get you more visitors or exposure and you’ll enjoy the process.

#30. Find Influencers in Your Niche

As a blogger, you probably don’t have the time to grow every single social media to the max. But there are people in your niche who might not even blog but have an incredible social media presence.

So, if you see someone with hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, and you have like 50… Why not use their influence to get more traffic?

You could build relationships with the influencers, pay them to post about your blog/product on their wall or story, or figure out a different way that’s a win-win for both.

As always be respectful and empathetic, it took them a lot of time and effort to get to where they are right now! They’ve grown and warmed up their audience, and working with them will save you months of hard work.

#31. Run a Giveaway or a Contest

I LOVE free things! And let’s be honest, who doesn’t?

Giveaways and contests have always been a great way to let more folks know about your brand and business.

It might take some time (and potentially money on ads if you have a small audience) to get the ball rolling, but if done well will give you an awesome return on investment.

If you don’t have any physical products to give away, people love gift cards and digital content! So if there is a course or an ebook you are selling, it’s an awesome (and free for you) thing to give away for additional traffic and exposure.

#32. Be Active in Communities

Know where your potential audience hangs out, and chill with them there!

That can mean joining Facebook groups, Quora forums, or other places related to your niche.

I’m not talking here about spamming your links in all of these places. Don’t do it as you’ll just quickly get banned/thrown out and won’t get any clicks.

Instead, be helpful to the point where when you post a link to your article, the people in there already know who you are and will really want to click and check out what you have to share.

#33. Invest in Ads on Different Platforms

Most of the Ways to increase blog traffic that I shared up to this point are absolutely free. They do require time, but no monetary value.

So, if you don’t have the time to invest, or want to speed up the growth of your traffic while doing those free options – there are always paid ads.

You can create and advertise on a lot of different platforms!

My favorite are Pinterest ads, Facebook ads, YouTube ads and Google ads.

Each process is different, but all have one thing in common:

• Copywriting is not a scary thing! You should understand at least the bases of it before spending any money.
• Have a way to make at least some of the money spent back. So wherever you are sending the traffic, don’t forget to promote your email list, products or services that you offer.
• Follow the rules. Make yourself familiar with the rules of each advertising platform so your ads get approved and you won’t get kicked out.
• Before launching an ad campaign, ask yourself – would I click this?

#34. Build Momentum

If you’ve read everything to this point, it all might seem so overwhelming!

And it truly is looking back at this post…

Even at the point where I am now with my blogs, if I went and started doing all of the ways mentioned in this article – I’d burn out with a blink of an eye.

But the purpose of this post is to open your eyes to all of the different creative possibilities!

There are so many ways to get more traffic to your blog!!!

Sure, some take more time and effort, some cost money, others you might just not be interested in.

And that’s totally OK!

In fact, I’d be scared if you felt like you could do and want to do all of them at once starting tomorrow!

Hey, there is no rush.

That’s why building momentum is such a crucial part of whatever it is you chose to go for.

And momentum takes time to build.

So focus on one-two things at a time and focus all of your energy on them. After some time add a new stream of traffic.

If something doesn’t work out or doesn’t feel right or honest to you – move on.

What works great for one person, can quickly turn into a nightmare for the other.

Listen to yourself and look at results.

#35. Keep Learning

This list is not the final answer to all of your questions. It’s more of an introduction.

Think about a class you had in high-school or college. On the first day, teachers would often introduce the major topic and the breakdown of what’s about to happen in the upcoming semester.

Well, the topic is obviously traffic here. But which lesson you want to go to next is your call.

So take the time to pick something that sounds most interesting and promising to you, and make it your goal to learn everything about it.

Knowledge is power.

And in this case, the knowledge of how to correctly use one tool or the other – is new increased traffic for you.

#36. Have Fun!

Finally, having fun is one of the most important things!

If you don’t have fun in the process of growing your successful blogging business, you will:

• burn out quickly
• give up
• stop learning, and therefore growing
• feel like poop

So let’s feel great and grow our businesses with joy! 🙂

Mistakes, issues, and setbacks will happen. They are just part of the deal, and necessary for growth.

What matters is how you decide to respond to them.

Summary

In short, we all want more traffic and there are so many creative ways to get it!

There are three types of traffic: the one we control (email), the one we can influence (social media, SEO) and the one we can buy (ads).

All three require different types of effort, but all will only work if your blog offers value to its readers.

If you want to read the whole thing but don’t have the time now, you can grab a PDF version of this article from my free resource library for bloggers and savor it later 😉

Here is a list of 36 ways to increase blog traffic:

1. Write More Content
2. Publish Better Articles
3. Focus on Value
4. Write Different Types of Content
5. Go On a Writing Spree
6. Repurpose Your Content
7. Refresh Old Content
8. Crosslink Content
9. Be THE Expert In Your Field
10. Add Social Sharing Buttons
11. Ask People To Share
12. Learn SEO
13. Pinterest Mania
14. YouTube It
15. Podcast All the Way
16. Instagram Influence
17. Twitter
18. Analyze and Improve
19. A/B Test Everything
20. Follow a Schedule
21. Help Readers Come Back For More
22. Email List Newsletter
23. “Monthly’s”
24. Automated Email Topics
25. Build a Community
26. Engage With Your Readers
27. Guest Blogging
28. Invite Guest
29. Collaborate With Others
30. Find Influencers In Your Niche
31. Run a Giveaway Or a Contest
32. Be Active in Communities
33. Invest in Ads on Different Platforms
34. Build Momentum
35. Keep Learning
36. Have Fun!